Anonymity with just one click.

After human rights organization WITNESS reported that no video sharing platform offered one-click face blurring, YouTube–the overachieving video arm of Google–decided, “Wait a second, we could build that!” Today, YouTube announced that they officially implemented the tool with the hopes that it will help activists in repressed countries be able to share their footage without fear of retaliation.

Whether you want to share sensitive protest footage without exposing the faces of the activists involved, or share the winning point in your 8-year-old’s basketball game without broadcasting the children’s faces to the world, our face blurring technology is a first step towards providing visual anonymity for video on YouTube.

The “emerging technology” automatically detects faces in a video. Once you click the “Apply” button under “Blur All Faces,” your video should be immediately wiped of identifying characteristics. Ahh, sweet pixelated perfection.

Face blurring will be incredibly useful for international activists who rely on the Internet–and anonymity–to spread their message, but it may also appease overprotective parents who want to solicit anonymous reactions to their children’s athletic abilities without flashing little Tommy’s face all over the Interwebs. So thoughtful.

Face blurring also seems like it’d be a useful tool for amateur porn producers: Getting feedback for your smutty tapes without worrying about being identified as “the girl who works as a temp at that law office on Route 79?”

Betabeat is now the newly launched Innovation section of the Observer. All your favorite features and columns—as well as exciting new areas of tech coverage—can now be found at Observer.com/Innovation.

Don't miss the latest and best writing on technology and the future of business innovation. Add the Innovation section to your RSS feed and follow the Observer on Twitter and Facebook.